Cloudy Tank.. No Fish.. Cycle Not Started?

Hello—relative beginner here. I've scoured the forums before countless times to see if I can find some clarification as to what might be happening but no luck, so I've decided to start my first thread and see if I might be able to get some help.

Currently setting up a 20 gallon long betta tank—I plan on having a divider or two in there so I can house two or three bettas. At the moment, I have one healthy betta fish that I've been keeping in an established 10 gallon for around 3 years so far.
Long story short, I set up the 20 gallon (new filter, heater, live plants, well rinsed substrate and deco..), added dechlorinator, and it has been running for around three days. I woke up on the third day to find the tank water looking cloudy. I impulsively (stupidly?) added around half a bottle of TSS to be on the safe end.

Now here is where my confusion starts: I've heard that this could be a bacterial bloom as a result of the cycling process, but I highly doubt the tank could have started cycling as I haven't added my betta yet, haven't added any food or ammonia, and the water turned cloudy before I added any TSS. I was planning on going the short route and using established filter media so I can move in my betta quicker. I was planning on running the new 20 gallon filter along with the established 10 gallon filter in the tank at the same time—both low flow so they won't disturb the fish—and I don't plan on adding any more bettas for a while so I didn't think the bio load would be harmful—is this a poor novice move?

The water is not green or brown at all, so I doubt this could be from algae or tannins. I rinsed everything, as well. I do have two Seachem flourish tabs buried under the substrate for my live plants, but from my research, these haven't caused cloudy water for anyone. I also have rocks collected from outside, but I tested them all with vinegar and poured boiling water over each of them so I'm not sure if they could be the culprit behind my cloudy water.

I apologize for the long post—I've just reached a dead end. I've read that the cloudiness eventually goes away, but that's provided that this is a bacterial bloom caused by the cycling process (which I haven't started yet in this tank—established filter media has not been put in place yet). I just want to get some clarification on the cause behind the milky water and whether this is dangerous for my fish. I currently have an API test kit being shipped in the mail, so I apologize for not being able to provide any parameters.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

That's almost definitely a bacterial bloom.

If I had to guess, I'd say that there was some dead material on the plants, and without any sort of BB in the tank, heterotrophic bacteria (the bacteria that live in the water column) grew to take care of the ammonia. Adding TSS+ wasn't really a mistake, but I don't think it would really help much either.

Bacterial Blooms aren't harmful, especially to a betta who can breathe from the surface. I would just move the established filter media over to the new filter, along with the betta and whatever else.

The bloom will go away as the source of ammonia starts to deplete. At that point, your BB (filter media bacteria) will take over, and the cloudiness will subside.

 

I would give it a few days and see if it goes away, don't move the betta over, what kind of substrate are you using? Some substrates can do this but that is usually when first put in. I would caution that keeping male bettas with just a clear divider can make them flare up a lot and cause them stress leading to more health issues and being harder to keep. Have you considered doing a sorority tank? I am assuming that the betta is a male of course since you were going to put in dividers.

 

what kind of substrate are you using?

A mix of both sand and gravel. I've heard that if it were in fact dust or dirt from substrate that were mixed into the water during setup, that at this point it should have either settled or gotten pulled into the filter.

I'm also just using solid black dividers with holes to help with water flow that I purchased from a betta specialist and breeder, but they haven't been placed in the tank yet.

 

That's almost definitely a bacterial bloom.

If I had to guess, I'd say that there was some dead material on the plants, and without any sort of BB in the tank, heterotrophic bacteria (the bacteria that live in the water column) grew to take care of the ammonia. Adding TSS+ wasn't really a mistake, but I don't think it would really help much either.

Bacterial Blooms aren't harmful, especially to a betta who can breathe from the surface. I would just move the established filter media over to the new filter, along with the betta and whatever else.

The bloom will go away as the source of ammonia starts to deplete. At that point, your BB (filter media bacteria) will take over, and the cloudiness will subside.

Thank you, I really appreciate the insight. I just wanted to make sure nothing would harm the fish. I'll definitely make sure to acclimate the betta before placing it in the tank, but will the sudden presence of all this new bacteria in its environment not stress it or cause it any health issues?

 

Ok I just wanted to make sure they weren't the clear type that most people use! The black ones should be fine! I was more wondering if it was dirt or a type of aquasoil which has organic matter and could have accounted for it. If you are using any wood that is the only other thing I can think of. I would just wait for it to clear up if you can.

 

Thank you, I really appreciate the insight. I just wanted to make sure nothing would harm the fish. I'll definitely make sure to acclimate the betta before placing it in the tank, but will the sudden presence of all this new bacteria in its environment not stress it or cause it any health issues?

It shouldn't cause any issues at all. The bacteria that cause a bacterial blooms are present in our tanks anyway. They're just present in small numbers, or present in the substrate. It's only when they have an excess amount of food that they bloom up and cause cloudy water.

Bacterial blooms are 100% safe for fish. The ONLY threat that an average bacterial bloom poses to fish is oxygen depletion. All of those bacteria take up oxygen, so for other fish, you'll want to add an airstone. But, for a betta, there's no point in it, since it breathes from the surface anyway.